VYAPAM case: Supreme Court quashes charges under SC/ST Act against whistleblower
Anand Rai had challenged the Madhya Pradesh high court order that upheld the framing of charges in the caste-based atrocity case arising from allegations of violence and harassment against an MP, MLA and government officials during a rally in 2022.
A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and NK Singh delivered the verdict on Rai’s plea and said: “We have discussed the scope of the SC/ST Act and the action is not in accordance with the law. The appeal is allowed.”
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Sumeer Sodhi appeared for Rai, an ophthalmologist from Madhya Pradesh and one of the whistleblowers of the VYAPAM exam scam.
The incident took place on November 15, 2022, at Dharad village in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district, during a program to unveil the statue of Bhagwan Birsa Munda on the occasion of Birsa Munda Jayanti.
Rai allegedly stopped the vehicles of an MP, an MLA, a collector and other officials. The FIR lodged by Vikas Pargi alleged that a group blocked the road for about an hour, misbehaved with MPs and scuffled with police personnel who tried to clear the road.
Rai was among around 40-45 people identified in the FIR and charges were framed against him by the special sessions judge of Ratlam (SC/ST Act) on March 18, 2025.
On January 13, 2023, the high court granted bail to Rai in connection with the case and subsequently stayed the proceedings under the SC/ST Act.
